The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has recommended three judges for appointment to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
The JSC conducted interviews on Monday to fill three vacancies in the appellate court.
Of the six candidates interviewed, Eastern Cape high court judge Thandi Norman and Gauteng high court judges Bashier Vally and Leonie Windell were successful.
Norman impressed the panel with her expertise in maritime law. Vally, a senior judge with five degrees, will bring to the SCA bench a wealth of experience and a reputation for delivering judgments in less than three months.
One unsuccessful candidate was KwaZulu-Natal high court judge Nkosinathi Chili, who on Monday faced persistent questions over an almost eight-month-old reserved judgment during his JSC interview.
Other candidates interviewed for the positions were KwaZulu-Natal judge Esther Steyn and Eastern Cape high court judge Gerald Bloem.
Chili faced questions on a reserved judgment from his acting stint in the SCA last year that has not been delivered almost eight months after the hearing of the case in August.
He told the commission the judgment was stuck in SCA’s procedural process and awaiting a presiding judge’s go-ahead. He maintained that he had handed his draft judgment in on time.
Chili said he called SCA deputy president Dumisani Zondi to raise his concerns about the delay in the judgment.
The questions were raised in light of the norms and standards of the judiciary, which stipulate that every effort should be made to hand down judgments no later than three months after the last hearing.
SCA president justice Mahube Molemela said delayed judgments often lead to public criticism.
“Having acted at the SCA for three terms, you would know that sometimes the delay relates to a judgment that was circulated timeously but is considered not to be of good standard by other panel members,” she said.
Chili said he did not know why the judgment was held up, other than the presiding judge having indicated to him that she had a lot of work.
All candidates faced questions on reserved judgments.
According to the office of the chief justice report in March, 1,657 judgments have been reserved since the beginning of the third term of 2025.
In all, 302 of these judgments ― about 18% of the total reserved matters ― had been reserved and were outstanding for more than six months.
Business Day
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